EU MPs are allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir while Indian MPs are denied entry. WHY?

Members from the European Parliament visited Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. The Indian government allowed EU MPs to visit the state but our own Indian MPs have been barred from entering the state since the time Article 370 has been removed. WHY?

Congress leader and MP from Wayanad, Kerala, Rahul Gandhi was sent back from the Srinagar airport. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was refused permission to enter the state many times before he was finally allowed for a restricted visit.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) general secretary Sitaram Yechury had to knock the door of the Supreme Court to obtain permission to visit the state and that too also, he was allowed to meet only his part colleague Yusuf Taregami.

Not just this, this was not an official visit.

A European MP, Theresa Griffin, tweeted, “To be absolutely clear – the group of far-right MEPs currently visiting #Kashmir are not in any way an “official” delegation. They do not speak for the European Parliament. The shutdown in Kashmir must be ended and constitutional rule of law restored.”

Another EU MP, Chris Davis, was allegedly uninvited after he expressed his will to “travel freely” in the state.

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“On October 8, I told WESTT that I was happy to accept the invitation on the condition that during my time in Kashmir, I would be free to go wherever I wish, and talk to whoever I wish, unaccompanied by military, police or security forces but accompanied by journalists. I am not prepared to take part in a PR stunt for the Modi government and pretend that all is well. It is very clear that democratic principles are being subverted in Kashmir, and the world needs to start taking notice,” he wrote responding to India Today’s TV email query.

Slamming the visit of the EU MPs, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “MPs from Europe are welcome to go on a guided tour of Jammu & #Kashmir while Indian MPs are banned & denied entry. There is something very wrong with that.”